Posted on 08/27/2021 12:13:04 PM PDT by Red Badger
Researchers discovered another coronavirus symptom that might appear after surviving COVID-19. Some patients who experienced severe cases of COVID-19 complained of hearing loss and ringing in their ears (tinnitus). It’s unclear whether the virus infected the ear directly, impacting hearing, or whether other factors caused the hearing problems. Just when we thought we knew everything about the way COVID-19 impacts the human body, a new study reveals another puzzling symptom that may affect patients infected with the novel coronavirus. And, like most COVID-19 symptoms, this one wouldn’t be strong enough to allow physicians to diagnose the illness without a test. That’s one of the strengths of this contagion. It lacks any particular signs that would enable physicians and patients to diagnose the disease without a PCR test. What’s worse is that symptoms can take up to two weeks to develop, and some people do not develop any symptoms at all.
Out of all the COVID-19 signs reported so far, there is one that’s pretty telling, and that’s the sudden loss of smell followed by the loss of taste. However, not all infected people experience them. The new symptom that scientists discovered concerns a different sense, as it appears that the virus can impact hearing as well. But unlike the loss of taste and smell, hearing impairments appear after COVID-19 recovery.
British researchers published a study in the International Journal of Audiology last month, explaining that some patients might risk experiencing two different hearing-related issues after COVID-19. Some people reported hearing loss, while others suffered from tinnitus, which is ringing in one’s ears.
The scientists observed 121 adults who went through severe coronavirus symptoms, with 13% of them reporting hearing impairments eight weeks after discharge.
The researches can’t say for certain that the virus infected the ears of these patients, however. The hearing loss and tinnitus can result from other activities, including therapies used for COVID-19.
“We already know that viruses such as measles, mumps, and meningitis can cause hearing loss, and coronaviruses can damage the nerves that carry information to and from the brain,” University of Manchester professor of audiology Kevin Munro told Best Life about the study. “It is possible, in theory, that COVID-19 could cause problems with parts of the auditory system, including the middle ear or cochlea.”
The report mentions a different study from JAMA Otolaryngology last month that said the virus was detected in the inner ear. But that’s not enough to prove SARS-CoV-2 induced hearing loss or tinnitus.
Other factors “might include stress and anxiety, including the use of face masks that make communication more difficult, medications used to treat COVID-19 that could damage the ear, or other factors related to being critically ill,” according to Munro.
Some medicines do cause hearing complications, and COVID-19’s most controversial therapy would qualify. Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have side effects that include hearing loss and tinnitus, Best Life explains, detailing a documented case from 2018, where a woman manifested those symptoms three years after regular use of hydroxychloroquine. That’s just an example of a medicine that can impact hearing. Hydroxychloroquine use didn’t come up in the British study.
The researchers say that more research is needed to investigate any direct effects of COVID-19 on the ear.
You “triggered” my tinnitus...
Thanks for the ting... lol
Coronavirus is a goldmine for fake research grants!
Well crap, I have had Covid for the last 50 years or so.
Me too. I’d love to know how to minimize/get rid of it!
NAC is good for both.
lol at the graphic.
I already have Tinnitus.. I already have almost everything the virus and Jab causes.
NAC ?...............
Me too!.................
Well then maybe the jab will cure it!......................permanently................
There’s about a hundred of them.
How about getting infected sinuses from wearing a mask, and having that impact your ears? And then you stop wearing a mask and your sinuses and ears clear up?
damn, this mean i got the chinaflu 30yrs ago? figures
Pretty soon, they’ll have the country convinced that EVERYTHING is a sign of COVID and encourage you to go in to be tested for each new symptom at $200 bucks a pop.
That is so cool.
I want that.
I could listen to my neighbors.
Hey Red Badger, please add me to your TINNITUS Ring List.
I’ve had bad tinnitus for a long time due to too much loud rock-n-roll for 50+ years. High-end DSP hearing aids have helped deal with conversations and such. But the freakin’ “Ballroom of screaming banshees slicing up sheet metal with circular saws” never stops 24x7. Enough to drive ya crazy, I tell ya.
Say what?
Making a modification to the original song from Team America:
Everyone has VID
VID, VID, VID
VID, VID, VID
VID, VID, VID
Everyone has VID
And so this is the end of our story
And everyone is dead from VID
It took from me my best friend, my only true pal
My only bright star
(He died of VID)
Well I’m gonna march on Washington
Lead the fight and charge the brigades
There’s a hero inside of all of us
I’ll make them see everyone has VID
My Father
(VID)
My sister
(VID)
My uncle and my cousin and her best friend
(VID, VID, VID)
The gays and the straights and the white and the spades
Everyone has VID
My grandma and my dog ‘ol blue
(VID, VID, VID)
The pope has got it and so do you
(VID, VID, VID, VID, VID)
C’mon everybody we got quilting to do
(VID, VID, VID, VID, VID)
We gotta break down these barricades, everyone has
VID, VID, VID
VID, VID, VID
VID, VID, VID
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